Recent Submissions

  • Deintensification of potentially inappropriate medications amongst older frail people with type 2 diabetes: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial (D-MED study)

    Munday, Fiona (2024-01-13)
    Aims: Amongst elderly people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) over prescribing can result in emergency ambulance call-outs, falls and fractures and increased mortality, particularly in frail patients. Current clinical guidelines, however, remain focused on medication intensification rather than deintensification where appropriate. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an electronic decision-support system and training for the deintensification of potentially inappropriate medications amongst older frail people with T2D, when compared to 'usual' care at 12-months. Methods: This study is an open-label, multi-site, two-armed pragmatic cluster-randomised trial. GP practices randomised to the 'enhanced care' group have an electronic decision support system installed and receive training on the tool and de-intensification of diabetes medications. The system flags eligible patients for possible deintensification of diabetes medications, linking the health care professional to a clinical algorithm. The primary outcome will be the number of patients at 12-months who have had potentially inappropriate diabetes medications de-intensified. Results: Study recruitment commenced in June 2022. Data collection commenced in January 2023. Baseline data have been extracted from 40 practices (3145 patients). Conclusions: Digital technology, involving computer decision systems, may have the potential to reduce inappropriate medications and aid the process of de-intensification. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number: ISRCTN53221378. Available at: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN53221378.
  • A Systematic Review of the Barriers to the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

    Isherwood, John (2023-10-04)
    Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to improve healthcare outcomes by facilitating early diagnosis, reducing the medical administrative burden, aiding drug development, personalising medical and oncological management, monitoring healthcare parameters on an individual basis, and allowing clinicians to spend more time with their patients. In the post-pandemic world where there is a drive for efficient delivery of healthcare and manage long waiting times for patients to access care, AI has an important role in supporting clinicians and healthcare systems to streamline the care pathways and provide timely and high-quality care for the patients. Despite AI technologies being used in healthcare for some decades, and all the theoretical potential of AI, the uptake in healthcare has been uneven and slower than anticipated and there remain a number of barriers, both overt and covert, which have limited its incorporation. This literature review highlighted barriers in six key areas: ethical, technological, liability and regulatory, workforce, social, and patient safety barriers. Defining and understanding the barriers preventing the acceptance and implementation of AI in the setting of healthcare will enable clinical staff and healthcare leaders to overcome the identified hurdles and incorporate AI technologies for the benefit of patients and clinical staff.
  • Prevalence of swallow, communication, voice and cognitive compromise following hospitalisation for COVID-19: the PHOSP-COVID analysis

    Houchen-Wolloff, Linzy; Sargeant, Jack; Singh, Sally (2023-07-26)
    Objective: Identify prevalence of self-reported swallow, communication, voice and cognitive compromise following hospitalisation for COVID-19. Design: Multicentre prospective observational cohort study using questionnaire data at visit 1 (2-7 months post discharge) and visit 2 (10-14 months post discharge) from hospitalised patients in the UK. Lasso logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify associations. Setting: 64 UK acute hospital Trusts. Participants: Adults aged >18 years, discharged from an admissions unit or ward at a UK hospital with COVID-19. Main outcome measures: Self-reported swallow, communication, voice and cognitive compromise. Results: Compromised swallowing post intensive care unit (post-ICU) admission was reported in 20% (188/955); 60% with swallow problems received invasive mechanical ventilation and were more likely to have undergone proning (p=0.039). Voice problems were reported in 34% (319/946) post-ICU admission who were more likely to have received invasive (p<0.001) or non-invasive ventilation (p=0.001) and to have been proned (p<0.001). Communication compromise was reported in 23% (527/2275) univariable analysis identified associations with younger age (p<0.001), female sex (p<0.001), social deprivation (p<0.001) and being a healthcare worker (p=0.010). Cognitive issues were reported by 70% (1598/2275), consistent at both visits, at visit 1 respondents were more likely to have higher baseline comorbidities and at visit 2 were associated with greater social deprivation (p<0.001). Conclusion: Swallow, communication, voice and cognitive problems were prevalent post hospitalisation for COVID-19, alongside whole system compromise including reduced mobility and overall health scores. Research and testing of rehabilitation interventions are required at pace to explore these issues.
  • Major cardiovascular events and subsequent risk of kidney failure with replacement therapy: a CKD Prognosis Consortium study

    Brunskill, Nigel; Major, Rupert (2023-01-24)
    Aims: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Less is known about how CVD associates with future risk of kidney failure with replacement therapy (KFRT). Methods and results: The study included 25 903 761 individuals from the CKD Prognosis Consortium with known baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and evaluated the impact of prevalent and incident coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, heart failure (HF), and atrial fibrillation (AF) events as time-varying exposures on KFRT outcomes. Mean age was 53 (standard deviation 17) years and mean eGFR was 89 mL/min/1.73 m2, 15% had diabetes and 8.4% had urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) available (median 13 mg/g); 9.5% had prevalent CHD, 3.2% prior stroke, 3.3% HF, and 4.4% prior AF. During follow-up, there were 269 142 CHD, 311 021 stroke, 712 556 HF, and 605 596 AF incident events and 101 044 (0.4%) patients experienced KFRT. Both prevalent and incident CVD were associated with subsequent KFRT with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 3.1 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.9-3.3], 2.0 (1.9-2.1), 4.5 (4.2-4.9), 2.8 (2.7-3.1) after incident CHD, stroke, HF and AF, respectively. HRs were highest in first 3 months post-CVD incidence declining to baseline after 3 years. Incident HF hospitalizations showed the strongest association with KFRT [HR 46 (95% CI: 43-50) within 3 months] after adjustment for other CVD subtype incidence. Conclusion: Incident CVD events strongly and independently associate with future KFRT risk, most notably after HF, then CHD, stroke, and AF. Optimal strategies for addressing the dramatic risk of KFRT following CVD events are needed.
  • Lessons from the field: The role of agility in a coproduction project encompassing the COVID-19 pandemic

    Pritchard, Rebecca (2022-04-25)
    Aim: We reflect on our experiences of coproducing a redesigned, COVID-safe priority-setting activity at a time of shifting priorities and upheaval to gain insight into good practice. Method: The project team documented the experience of adapting to COVID-19 through the reflective project evaluation. We reflect on how COVID disrupted coproduction through radically shifting personal and professional priorities and the implications for good practice. Results: Our experiences highlighted the role of agility, management capacity, social capital and power in coproduction. Conclusions: COVID-19 disrupted and enabled coproduction, compounding tensions and serving as the basis to transcend them. The pandemic created new demands on institutions that initially prompted withdrawal to established power, and team members which redefined them in relation to each other. Shifting priorities and demands forced team members into new, and out of former, roles coming into conflict with enduring power dynamics articulating constructs of expertise and authority in the institutional structure. We consider how the tensions found expression: as governance and human resource concerns, problems with authorizing payments, challenges in institutionally accommodating community researchers and the exclusion of some from participation.
  • Leaders in cardiovascular research: Nilesh J. Samani

    Samani, Nilesh (2021)
    No abstract available.